Moody's Japan K.K. has assigned its A1 rating to the senior
unsecured bonds issued by The Chiba Bank, Ltd. The rating outlook is
stable.

The bond issuance is:

USD300 million senior unsecured bonds, due on October 30, 2019

RATINGS RATIONALE

The A1 ratings of Chiba Bank are two notches higher than the
bank's baseline credit assessment (BCA) of a3, due to our
assumption of a very high probability of systemic support for the bank,
given that it holds a high share of loans and deposits in Chiba
Prefecture.

Chiba Bank's BCA of a3 -- reflects the bank's: (1)
favorable business franchise, including its high share of loans and
deposits in Chiba Prefecture; (2) persistently low profitability when
compared to global peers; (3) strong liquidity; and (4) high level of
capital adequacy, in terms of quantity and quality.

The possibility of a ratings upgrade is remote in the short term,
because

of: (1) structural challenges with regard to profitability; and (2)
the uplift of two notches incorporated in the bank's current
ratings based on our assumption of systemic support for the bank in case
of need. However, in the long-term, the following factors could exert
upward pressure on its ratings: (1) a substantial improvement in
profitability by international standards indicated by, for example, a
ratio of net income/average risk weighted assets of more than 1%; or (2)
a sustained improvement in its Tier 1 ratio.

Factors that could result in a downgrade include, but are not
limited to, the following: (1) the bank's failure to maintain a
Tier 1 ratio of 10%;

(2) a bottom-line loss which could lead to a substantial decline in
its Tier 1 ratio; or (3) a downgrade of Japan's sovereign rating,
which could result in a further reassessment of Japan's ability to
support its banking system in a crisis.

The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Banks
(Japanese) published in July 2014. Please see the Credit Policy page on
www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

The Chiba Bank, Ltd., headquartered in Chiba City, is the largest
regional bank in Chiba Prefecture.